Sept/Oct 2012 Issue of Becker's Hospital Review

Many healthcare providers don't want to be known as "hospital systems" anymore. Some hospitals and health systems are taking reform into their own hands by redefining their brand, mission and business strategies to better reflect the contemporary broader values of healthcare reform. Click to continue »

The credit and debt markets have been markedly different since 2008, when the United States and much of the world officially entered a financial crisis that impacted the credit of almost every borrower. Click to continue »

The Supreme Court made a historic decision on June 28 to uphold the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The Court let the individual mandate stand, via Congress' power to tax, but limited lawmakers' ability to withhold funding from states that choose to opt-out of Medicaid expansion. Click to continue »

Community hospitals are a critical component to the American healthcare continuum. These hospitals are often the anchors of health and employment within their communities, providing patients with top-quality care close to home. Click to continue »

With the Supreme Court's recent decision to uphold the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, hospitals can now move into high gear preparing for new payment and delivery models. Click to continue »

Recently, the United States Supreme Court sent a monumental message to healthcare providers and patients across the country when it upheld the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, with the sole exception that Congress cannot penalize states that decline to expand Medicaid. Click to continue »

CMS' July announcement of 89 new accountable care organizations participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program emphasizes a trend happening on the commercial side of things too: ACOs or similar models are sprouting up across the nation, with many health systems and hospitals considering ways to get in the ACO game. Click to continue »

A common response among healthcare leaders when asked about the impact of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on their organization isn't too surprising given the growing costs of healthcare: Major changes in healthcare delivery were and are coming, regardless of the Supreme Court's decision. Click to continue »

Healthcare today is marked by nearly unprecedented levels of change. From healthcare reform to reimbursement reductions to new payment models, there seem to be fewer and fewer constants in healthcare delivery. Click to continue »

A report from Moody's Investors Service determined that the Supreme Court's ruling to uphold most of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is a "credit neutral" for non-profit and for-profit acute-care hospitals. Click to continue »

Gary Kaplan, MD, has been chairman and CEO of Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle since 2000. Dr. Kaplan is also a practicing internal medicine specialist at Virginia Mason's clinic in Kirkland, a Seattle suburb. Click to continue »

The fight against healthcare fraud is a top priority for the government today, as evidenced by harsher federal sentencing guidelines for healthcare fraud, an increase in the number of Medicare Fraud Strike Force teams and federal fraud prevention programs such as the Medicare and Medicaid Recovery Audit Contractor programs. Click to continue »

In a letter to the Government Accountability Office, a bipartisan group of Senators and Representatives asked for a study on the effectiveness and coordination among the different Medicare contractors within CMS. Click to continue »

HCA Holdings reported that in July, the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney's office in Miami requested information on reviews assessing the medical necessity of interventional cardiology services at HCA facilities. Click to continue »

This June, following much anticipation from those in the healthcare industry and consumers alike, the Supreme Court announced its decision to uphold nearly all of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, including the individual mandate. Click to continue »

The majority of the news on the Supreme Court's upholding of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has focused on the law's large-scale impact on patients and healthcare organizations in terms of health insurance and cost. Click to continue »

The Supreme Court has rescued the Patient Protection Affordable Care Act, at least for now. But is it worth saving? And regardless of what happens to the PPACA, what will be the future for U.S. healthcare? Click to continue »

Beginning with high-deductible health plans and cost sharing models, which started springing up around a decade ago, and continuing to the creation of health insurance exchanges — written into the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — consumerism has been on a steady rise in the healthcare industry. Click to continue »